Singing the praises of the 1 percent

We could shock you with startling statistics about how the richest 1 percent own about 50 percent of the wealth, and how it’s been getting worse for the rest of us for a few decades now. But that’s depressing! And we’d much rather watch cartoons.

Like this 1933 Merrie Melodies gem “We’re in the Money”:

We can also sympathize with Zero Mostel’s character Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof:

Ethel Merman has been showing up a lot lately in Record Bin Roulette, and we’re happy about that. Here she poses the musical question “Can You Use Any Money Today?”:

The Beatles were nothing if not shrewd businessmen. A well-known story tells of Lennon and McCartney sitting down to compose a song, and John says to Paul, “Okay let’s write a swimming pool!” Which they did many, many times. Early in their career, they showed some economic savvy with the 1964 tune “Can’t Buy Me Love”: